biography
| name: |
Gatty, Harold (Charles)
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| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1903–57)
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| biography:
| Aviator and writer, born in Campbell Town, Tasmania, Australia. He trained for a naval career but went to California in 1927. His interest in navigation led him to open a laboratory which made and repaired instruments, and prepared maps. He devised a ground-speed-and-drift indicator which still forms the basis of the automatic pilots used in modern aircraft. He flew as navigator on several record-breaking flights (1929–31), served with the US and Australian forces in the Pacific during World War 2, and published The Raft Book (1943) on star navigation, which became standard equipment in all US army and air force life-rafts. After the war he settled in Fiji and founded Fiji Airways. His best-selling book Nature is your Guide was published shortly after his death. |
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